£1.75m robber too dangerous for jury goes on the run after walking out of trial

A suspected armed robber accused of taking part in a £1.75million heist was being hunted last night after disappearing during a landmark trial.

Peter Blake apparently walked out of the High Court in London in the middle of his trial, which was being heard without a jury.

Shortly after the afternoon session resumed, he asked for permission to leave court to consult a member of his legal team. But Blake, 57, who had been on court bail for up to three years, failed to return and police were called in.

He was one of four alleged armed robbers put on trial without a jury accused of the February 2004 heist at a warehouse at Heathrow.

Blake's escape will raise questions about the decision to grant him bail. He and the other three alleged robbers were given bail under strict conditions because it was the fourth trial they faced over the same allegations.

During the third trial last year, the judge halted proceedings over claims from the prosecution that the jury had been interfered with. The Court of Appeal ruled that in the face of threats to a future potential jury the four men should be tried without a jury – the first such trial in England for 400 years.

The escape is the latest setback in the prosecution of suspects for the crime. There have been three trials and more than £20million has been spent, but with no convictions.

The thieves had intended to steal more than £10million from the Menzies World Cargo warehouse. Those responsible made off with a fraction of their intended haul - just £1.75 million. The money has yet to be recovered.

Blake was last seen at the Royal Courts of Justice, in the Strand, at about 2.15pm on Wednesday.